Continuous, clonal, insulin- and somatostatin-secreting cell lines established from a transplantable rat islet cell tumor

Continuous cell lines that secrete both insulin and somatostatin were established by two cooperating groups of investigators from a serially transplantable, radiation-induced, rat islet cell tumor. The cell lines, named RIN-r and RIN-m, were initiated from tumors maintained in inbred rats or in athymic nude mice, respectively. The cultured cells are epithelioid, free of fibroblast contamination, and can be cloned. They have a hypodiploid chromosome number, are tumorigenic, and possess amine-handling properties, including high levels of L-dopa decarboxylase and formaldehyde-induced fluorescence. Preliminary analysis of clones revealed a spectrum of insulin secretion from undetectable to relatively high. These clonal cell lines provide important systems to study the biology of insulin and somatostatin.